Robert C

My bike is parked outside all day, every day, and I haven't seen need to replace the belt yet. It is possible that the "boat-poly" was damaging it.

(year two and still working fine. Today I adjusted the belt for the first time)

Robert C

I am riding with a belt drive on my daily commuter, running through a N-360. I am having none of the problems you are describing. Yes, my commute involves winter conditions.

Bike Gremlin

Chain drive is the most efficient. Having less than half a horse power at disposal, that is significant. IMO belt drive for cycling is just f-f-f-f-fashion.

wolfchild

If it is fashion then it's not catching on amongst cyclists. In my 8 years of cycling and commuting I have seen and passed many different cyclists on all types of bikes but I have never seen anybody on a belt drive bike. Even IGH bikes are in a minority and every IGH bike I seen so far had a chain. Belt drives are for geeks and for people who just like to be different.

wolfchild

Does your winter riding involve ice, frozen slush, sticky wet snow, freezing rain which can coat every part of a drivetrain and stick to every component on a bicycle, or does your area only get dry powder snow which doesn't even stick to anything ??

Bike Gremlin

+1 Agree. That was my point - a fashion statement, not a practical advantage over a good old chain.

megalowmatt

I think until local bike shops and online retailers embrace the belt drive and have the same amount of belt as chain driven in stock it won't catch on.

As for me, I'll take a 1x10 chain drive over a belt IGH any day.

Early on in my commuting journey I started on a Bianchi San Jose (single speed). After 6-7 months I made the decision to convert it to IGH a la Sheldon Brown's SanJos8. Worked great until the hub slowly began developing random issues with skipping/slipping. Over months of countless videos, replacing cable, housing adjustments, etc. I pretty much gave up. No one around here knows how to service the thing so I'd need to send the entire wheel for service somewhere for a random slipping problem they probably won't be able to replicate.

I guess my point is that shops are only going to sell & service what they know - the old tried & true. And with advancements in rear cassette spread I think that will continue to be the focus.

That said, I'm still lusting over that BMC posted earlier in the thread....

Robert C

I agree that the difficulty in picking up a spare belt is a problem; particularly living car-free in a city with no bike shops and over 150 miles from one.

I have a belt drive, it is cleaner, quieter, and requires less maintenance; oh, and it's cleaner. Not a fashion statement all, it is a better way for my non-sport applications. I intentionally chose the components on my commuter for the purpose of low maintenance and reliability. The belt drive has worked well.

In a word, Yes. I use the bike in the "mid-west" not Salt Lake, the city in my profile, the winters are ugly.

fietsbob

Ive long considered a chain case, hiding a belt drive inside it is a perfect combination , but the Industry wants to show it off, exposed.

Bike Gremlin

What about hiding a chain inside? There are such (old?) bikes. Stays lubed, dust free and the rider stays clean.

Scummer

I have the Gates Carbon drive and ridden it for 1000km so far. No problems, quiet as it was in the beginning. Rode it in the rain and dirt as well. Hopefully by next year this time I will have close to 5000km on it and more experience with the longevity and how much maintenance it needs. So far I have done nothing to clean the belt.

Robert C

At about 3000Km I had to adjust the tension on mine. It took less than 5 minutes. I actually did it while boiling instant noodles. That's all the maintenance it has needed

fietsbob

Actually chain is more Ignored and un lubricated on like Omas with a full chaincase.

GovernorSilver

My Breezer Uptown 8 came with a chain case. Purchased new.

The combo of chain case and IGH makes changing the rear tire a PITA but chain maintenance is indeed quite minimal. The tires are practically mountain bike wide with puncture resistance, but I try to avoid flat causing things.

QuakerProf

Some companies do even more: I bought a 2011 Kona Dr. Fine as a special order from a Fairfax, VA dealer based on reviews and photos on the company site. Photos showed attachment points for fenders and rack. Real bike had none, despite being billed as a "fast commuter" on the web site. I had paid a deposit and took the bike, but am still pissed that I had to use quick-attach fenders and a beam rack. There were other ways to attach a normal rack, but not for a bike with disc brakes -and- no attachment points on the dropouts.

rmfnla

Spoken like a true non-watch guy.

It's much easier to glance at my wrist rather than pull out my cell phone (and push a button to activate it). My daily wearer is accurate to 2 seconds a day so I am confident it is telling me what time it is...

tjspiel

I'm kind of mystified by the anti-belt sentiments. For the bike enthusiast who wants to be able to swap cogs or chainrings and doesn't mind the cleaning and lubricating, chains are a great choice and will continue to be found on most bikes for decades, or maybe even centuries.

But there's a whole lot of people who will never swap a chainring or a cog and would rather not worry about lubricating a chain. i suspect a belt would probably last them a lifetime in most cases.

Plus, there's us winter riding folks who go through more chains than tires. And yes, I believe Gates has dealt with any issues that snow and ice may cause with belt drives. They do put them on snowmobiles after all. For me, a chain is the biggest winter maintenance headache by far. A belt drive would mean I'm pretty much stuck with an IGH on my winter bike, but that's what I use anyway.

Just because it's different doesn't mean it's bad.

prathmann

No, but it doesn't automatically make it better either. And I'm a bit mystified as to why chains on an IGH arrangement cause you so much trouble. I used to commute on a 3-speed in Fargo, ND and don't remember having to give any attention to my chain over many years of use besides adding a few drops of oil when needed. Sure, that was more often needed after rides on slushy streets, but it only took a few seconds and really wasn't all that frequent even under the worst conditions. Are you using a regular single-speed chain or one of the more finicky types intended for derailleur systems?

tjspiel

That's the thing. It doesn't have to be better for everyone. What if you really like a quiet drive train? What if you don't want add oil ever?

Were you a daily winter rider in Fargo or an occasional one? How much salt did they put on the roads?

If you pay attention to some of the chain related posts over the winter months, I think you will find lots of people who get a single season out of chain and that's it. Yes I do use an actual single speed chain and yes, chains last longer with an IGH than they do with derailleurs. I even use a rust resistant chain.

It really shouldn't come as a shock. Salt is extremely corrosive when it comes to steel. Lubricant doesn't last long in slushy/gritty conditions. This is hardly a problem exclusive to me. And there's probably plenty of people who don't mind lubricating their chain every week or after every ride in the slush. Personally I don't want to do that.

dynaryder

My Harley's belt is 16yrs old,no issues. 26k miles and counting,way more than any of my old chain-driven bikes. Can't speak to Gates,but there are long lasting drive belts out there. HD's been using them for decades.

Joe Minton

Belts are better, just like disc brakes are better: They are trouble-free, simple to maintain and very reliable. The problems are with adoptation; frames that do not allow belt drive installation or adjustment, gearing (works best with IGH), general ignorance of just how much development and experience Gates has with these things. Etc.

Follow this guy as he pedals his belt drive bike around Australia --- https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...hris+rishworth

Do any engineers attend bike forums?

Joe

hig4s

I agree, but I still see a lot of people that disagree with that statement even as far as disc brakes go.

SamHouston

When more brands & thus more dealers offer them, they will catch on. Except for the "people who want to be different" that were mentioned before, we do buy what the industry tells us to despite the seeming endless selection.

Being lower maintenance will make belt drives a boon for cycling in the end, people want point and shoot, plug and play, use it and put it away. Anything lower maintenance, less messy will appeal to new markets of people seeking to be car-less or car-free.

Also people like new. Sure, it isn't new, neither are wheels, but you know what they say "if it's new to me!".

Trends that move away from high end, dangly, race-oriented drive-train designs are good for cycling in general. Lots of people try to cycle, they buy a cheap bike that advertises ++features and then when those features get into a tangled mess because they bought a $400 bike that imitated a $1200 bike they garage that **** and move on. Any bike that "just works" on offer is a benefit.

Tundra_Man 

If I were ready to drop some coin on a new winter bike, this one really has piqued my interest: Breezer Beltway 8+ City Bike - 2016

It's a little spendy, but already comes fully equipped with belt drive, 8 speed IGH, disc brakes, fenders, racks and even lights, pump and a bell. The only thing I'd have to add would be studded tires and a computer.

Belt drive would be nice as they heavily salt our streets here in the winter and the chain on my geared winter bike only lasts a few hundred miles before it's nothing but rust, even when I keep it heavily oiled. My cassettes and the rest of my drivetrain are also quite rusty and subsequently have short lifespans. I've thought about switching to single speed just to reduce the amount of drivetrain components I destroy, but I live on top of a monstrous hill and I'm not sure I want to make that climb every day without gears. Belt drive with an IGH seems like it would be a good alternative.

I'm a little hesitant about the IGH as I've had two friends that had IGH hubs and both of them had incidents where the hubs self-destructed on them in the middle of rides. But I know other people run them without trouble.

tjspiel

I think some hubs are simpler than others and therefore are more likely to last. I have an 8 speed Alfine though and it's been fine through 3 winters.

Chains do better on an IGH/single speed than they do on derailleur bikes but unless it's been a mild winter, about 1 season is still all I expect to get of them. Along with the salt, a lot of sand gets dumped on the roads and that grit will chew up a chain pretty quickly too. Lube is not enough, at some point that grit has to be cleaned out (to the extent that I can), then I've got to dispose of the degreaser.

I don't like throwing stuff away and we can't put chains in our recycling so that means i've got to bring them somewhere to be recycled which is a pain.

Anyway, chain maintenance is pretty minimal on my non-winter bikes and there are currently plenty of advantages to chains so I expect I will continue to use them for a long time. But for certain things, belts look like a great idea.